Team GBs heavyweight hopeful Lawrence Okolie came up short against the classy Erislandy Savon yesterday in their second stage bout in Rio.. Savon and Okolie met only weeks ago in Tashkent in a WSB tournament, where the Cuban stopped the young Londoner inside a round, this meeting however wasn't as cut and dry.. Okolie started fast looking to box long range but was soon on the end of heavy weather as Savon found his measure, Okolie was on the floor after just 50 seconds from an apparent right hand, which looked more like a slip in hindsight. Okolie maintained his composure despite heavy fire from Savon, who looked to have taken the first decisively.. The second round saw Lawrence attempt to stand his ground, rocking the Cuban momentarily in a vain attempt to rally. Savon stuck to his guns, keeping Okolie constantly on the back foot.. The final round was a mere formality, Savon awarded the decision by 30 points to 20.. Okolie will take a huge amount of encouragement from his Olympic experience, beating 5 world ranked opponents to qualify then hang in there with the number one seed to a points decision.. A dissapointed Lawrence Okolie later explained how tough it was to try figure out such an experienced opponent with so few bouts under his belt, he remembers watching Savon boxing Anthony Joshua in the 2012 Olympics while working in McDonald's, never imagining that he'd be fighting Savon himself 4 years on.. Okolie can definitely come again, a loss at this level can't hurt him.
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